Chaos Files, Book 1: Ex-Marks the Spot
Chapter 1 I stormed out of the remains of my mentor’s apartment. We had gotten into yet another disagreement. He had lost his temper; I had lost the little control I had over my abilities. The end result was his apartment exploding. When the dust cleared, my mentor, Henry Draven, stood there staring at me with cold, dead eyes. “Now look what you’ve done Chaos!” he shouted “You’ve destroyed my apartment, AGAIN!” I looked up at him and snapped back, “Well, MAYBE if you didn’t get on my ass about dating your daughter and showed me some respect, this kind of stuff wouldn’t happen!” Behind me a rock suddenly shot forward and almost smacked Draven in the face. This kind of stuff happens to me a lot. My name is Chaos Rinehart. I’m a wizard in training. Because I’m not a full wizard yet I don’t have full control over my abilities. Whenever I lose my temper, I lose control as well. The more angry I get, the more control I lose. Because of this, wherever I go, mayhem and chaos are not far behind, hence my name. There was a rustle of movement behind Draven. We turned to see a pale, dark haired girl remove herself from the rubble. As she dusted herself off, she looked over at us and asked, “Alright boys, who started it THIS ''time?” I pointed at Draven and he pointed at me. “He did.” We said in unison. She sighed and shook her head. Then she walked over and smashed our foreheads together. Draven and I fell to the ground. I looked up at her rubbing my forehead. “Hells Bells Leech, what was that for?!” I groaned. She looked down at me with her onyx black eyes and said, “That was for acting like such an idiot.” She then handed me my rune-carved staff and I used it to pick myself up off the ground. I looked over and she gestured for me to get into my car, the red beetle''. “We’re leaving aren’t we?” I asked. She nodded and then said, “Get in the car.” I immediately walked over and sat down in the passenger seat. Leech is someone you don’t want to mess with, EVER. She is a very rare breed of vampire. Instead of feeding on blood or people’s souls, she feeds on a wizard’s magic energy. Her name isn’t Leech either. Her real name is Elizabeth. She HATES that name. When we first met, she was spying on me. I spotted her even though she was covered from head to toe in oily black grease paint. As an insult I had snapped at her, “What are you looking at leech.” Somehow the name stuck. Draven is Leech’s assigned guardian thanks to the Wizard Council. She’s also my girlfriend. As Leech walked over to the car, Draven stood up and grabbed her gloved arm. Leech wears a single glove on her right arm. She says that she has an embarrassing scar she wants to forget about on her hand. “Why are you leaving?” he asked in a stern tone. You could tell he was beginning to calm down. She wrenches her arm away and says to Draven, “Because I can’t stand to be near you right now! I need a vacation!” “Ditto.” I said as I placed my staff in the trunk. Leech walked over to the car and sat down in the driver’s side. “Where to Chaos?” she asked. It took me only a split second to answer. “Kentucky. Lexington Kentucky.” Leech pulled out of the drive. The last thing we saw before we left was Draven, standing there in the middle of the wreckage with a heartbroken expression on his face. ..... It took us two days and five tanks of gas, but we finally reached Lexington. This trip had been fairly easy for us because unlike other wizards, my aura doesn’t disrupt technology that much unless I want it to. Plus, the red beetle was still fairly new. As dusk approached, we began to see the lush green fields of Kentucky. We were at a stop light when Leech looked over and asked. “So, where to now?” I looked at her puzzled. “Haven’t you been here before?” I asked. She looked down sheepishly. “It’s been a while since I left Chicago.” She muttered. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Then I looked over and said, “Well, then the first place we’re going is to the police station” She looked at me confused. “Why?” “To see an old friend.” ..... We arrived at the police station 30 minutes later. We pulled in and my old friend, Officer Kat, came out to meet us. Kat is very much a police woman. She's tall, skinny, has evidence of muscular workouts, and she's always wearing her long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She smiled when she saw us. “I’d know that car anywhere. Long time no see Chaos.” She said as Leech and I got out of the car. “Nice to see you too.” I replied “So, did you destroy anything on your way here?” “Well…” “Four busted light bulbs, one fire hydrant and two car alarms.” Leech listed as she opened the trunk of the beetle. I sighed. “What she said.” Leech turned around to pull my staff out of trunk. As she did Officer Kat turned to me and said. “I got a new partner while you were gone.” “Cool, who is it.” “She’s a teenager about your age. Her Dad is my boss. She needed a job so he assigned her to be my partner.” “Is she nice?” “Kayla? Yeah she’s a nice girl.” I looked up a little startled. Then I asked wearingly. “Kayla …?” “Kayla Tracer. You remember. You used to-” She was interupted by the sound of grating wood against metal. I turned around just in time to see Leech fall on top of me. “Sorry Chaos” she said as she handed me my staff. Officer Kat looked down at Leech and asked, “So who’s your friend here?” “My name is Leech.” She said. “My girlfriend.” I explained Officer Kat looked at Leech surprised. “Is that your real name?” she asked “No it’s not. Leech’s real name is…” I began, until Leech shot me a murderous look. “Let’s just stick with Leech.” She said while scowling. After introductions, I looked at Leech and said “Well since you’re new to Kentucky I might as well show you around.” “I can show you around the station if you like.” Kat offered “If you’re dating Chaos, you’ll be here a lot.” “Kat, I’m not here that often.” I exclaimed Both Kat and Leech shot me a look. Then Kat said, “Leech, don’t you think that 50 times or so is a lot?” “I thought it was 50 million times a week or something.” “Okay, okay point taken.” I groaned. Leech didn’t stop there. “Did you know that in the CPD, Chaos literally has a cell with a metal plaque with his name engraved on it?” “He does? We just put up a piece of duct tape above the door and wrote ‘Reserved for Chaos Rinehart’ on it.” I looked away and muttered with a grin on my face, “Hells Bells. They’re getting to know each other over my police records.” Thanks to my less than controlled powers, I have ended up in prison for destruction of property and attempted destruction of property plenty of times. Leech has had to bail me out so many times she has the number to her Swiss bank accountant on speed dial. Then Leech looked at me and asked, “Is your record as destructive as back in Chicago, or have you committed any other felonies?” “Just destruction and attempted destruction of property.” ..... After the girls got acquainted Kat took Leech on the tour. Afterwards she pulled me over and asked. “Remember when you left? You asked me to watch over your house.” “Yeah, why?” She hands me an ornate rusted key. “Here’s the key to your place back. When you head that direction, will you do me a favor?” “Yeah.” I asked wearingly “Tell your butler to stop hitting on me. It’s kind of annoying” I snickered sure, then Leech and I headed for the door. Chapter 2 After a few months, Leech finally got the courage to go out on her own. Unfortunately, it was because I had ripped her black glove. We had been practicing on my properties forest area. She was having me levitate small pebbles and throw them at her. I had slipped up and accidentally flung a boulder at the back of my head. She had shoved me out of the way in time, but the boulder had shattered against her vampiric frame. She was unscathed, but her glove was ripped to shreds. “Uh-oh not good.” She whined. I helped her to her feet. “Hey Chaos, wasn’t there a store in that mall that sold gloves?” she asked “Yep.” I replied. “Good. I need twenty dollars for a new glove.” She said. I gave her a twenty. She gave me a quick hug. When she released me she had my blasting rod in her hand. “Oh come on Leech. Can’t you just trust me?” She gave me a what-do-you-think look and walked to her rented silver sedan. After she left I continued to practice my spells. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t my smartest decision. I pulled my real blasting rod out of a hidden pocket of my duster. I pointed it at the sky and shouted, “PYRUS!” A long line of thick flames shot out of the blasting rod. I then picked up my staff and shouted, “VENTUS!" A strong gust of wind blew out from the staff. I was about to congratulate myself when I heard a large loud cracking sound. I looked up in time to see a giant branch come crashing down on to my head. ..... When I came to, it was pitch black. My watch said that it was 1:00 am. As I sat up I felt my head. It felt wet and sticky. I looked at my hand and it was red with blood. “Mental note: Never mix wind and fire spells.” I thought. After I picked myself up off the ground, I walked toward the red beetle thinking only about getting to the nearest Walgreens and getting some thick gauze bandages. After several minutes of accidents not caused by my powers, I arrived. As I began to walk in, I heard a car horn. I turned to see a silver sedan parked next to the beetle. “Uh-oh, Leech.” I thought. “She’ll go nuts if she sees me like this.” Just as I was about to come up with a way to defend myself against Leech’s anger, a girl who was definitely not Leech stepped out of the car. This girl had medium, blondish brown hair and thin wire glasses. Her name was Kayla Tracer, and I had hoped I had seen the last of her years ago. “Need you down at the station. Get in the car.” Kay said. No hello, no hi, no I’m-glad-you’re-back-in-town, just business. I looked at her and in an irritated tone said, “Hell’s Bells Kay, I just woke up from being conked on the head with a huge branch practicing magic! I’m dizzy, I’m bleeding profusely, and I have a major concussion! Can’t the station wait until I can see straight?!” She looks back at me, not quite looking me in the eye, and states simply, “No. Car. Now.” I noticed immediately that she was not in the best of moods. I got in the car. Kay got in, rummaged under her seat until she grabbed what she was looking for, and threw it in my lap. I looked down and noticed that it was a white box with a red cross. “Med kit” I thought As I finished bandaging my bleeding cranium, we arrived at the station. The first thing I noticed was that the front doors were gone. In their place was dented metal and broken glass. I began to panic thinking that Kat was in danger. When I walked through the opening I panicked even more. Leech was sitting in a chair not far from the door. Her clothes were tattered and covered in blood, she had multiple scratches all over her, and she held an ice pack to her head. Her normal composed features were twisted in fear and pain. When something is strong enough to scare Leech, you better be afraid. I ran over to her side. “Leech... Leech honey, are you okay?” She looked up at me and relief filled her face. “Big monster… REALLY big monster…. Chased me… Tried to fight… no use…. Threw me here.” She said as she gasped for air. I was about to reply when Kay walked over and interrupted. “You know her Chaos?” she asked. Leech looked up and sneered. “Yeah. What’s it to you Blondie.” I turned toward Kay to see her tense up. I stood up and asked, “Kay, can you give us some privacy while we talk?” She looked up, nodded and curtly walked away. I turned back to Leech. I tried to find out what had happened but Leech uttered the fatal words. “Who is that girl?” I looked down and sighed. Then I called Kay back into the room. “Kay, this is Leech. She’s my girl friend. Leech, this is Kay. She’s…” I hesitated for a second. “She’s my second ex girl friend.” Both Kay and Leech turned to me abruptly. “''WHAT?!!” they shrieked in unison “You’re dating HER?!” Kay yelled. I turned to her, “Yeah, so what? I dated you, and you dumped me. You shouldn’t care anymore.” Then Leech shrieked, “You have TWO exes! You never told me you had an ex, much less two of them!” “I hadn’t told you because I wanted to forget about them. My first ex got locked up in an insane asylum after she Soul gazed me. Kay here, I thought she had left town never to return. Apparently I was wrong.” Both girls sat fuming. While they fumed, Kat walked in. she saw Kay and Leech and sat down beside me. “What happened?” she asked “Ex met current.” I said “How’d it go?” “Not well.” “Explosive?” “No, not yet. But at the rate things are progressing, maybe. But don’t worry. I’ve got this under control.” “''I hope.” I thought Suddenly Kay screamed. Both Kat and I looked over to see Kay pointing a taser gun at Leech. “W-what is she?” Kay muttered. “What do you mean?” Kat asked “She has fangs. They just shot out of her gums!” I knew that meant trouble. I tried to explain. “Well… Kat, Kay. Leech is… well…” Leech suddenly interrupted me. “No use sugar coating it Chaos.” She then turned toward Kay, smiled with her fangs bared, and triumphantly said in a snarky tone “I’m a vampire you jealous, pompous, freak of nature!” Kat immediately jumped up and pointed her gun at Leech. Kay shrieked and fired her taser. Seconds before the barbs hit Leech, I grabbed them, exerted some of my will, and shorted them out. As I shorted out the wires I grabbed Kay’s taser as well. Leech had fallen back into her chair. Her arms were raised and her fingers splayed. “WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. The room seemed to shake as I said this. It didn’t surprise me. I was pissed off. Kat looked over at me and said, “Chaos, she just said that she was a vampire, a freakin’ VAMPIRE!” Kay looked over and added, “She just called me a jealous freak. I am not jealous.” I stared at Kay and gave her a doubtful glance “Sure. Of COURSE you’re not jealous.” I stated sarcastically. Leech smirked and kind of giggled. Her face went sullen again once Kat cocked her gun. I immediately jumped in front of Leech. “Kat either put the gun down or be prepared to shoot me as well as Leech.” Kat grunted and put her gun away. Kay angrily stomped out of the room. Leech began to relax again. Then she looked up at my head. “Stars and stones! What did you do to yourself?!” she exclaimed I looked over at her then pointed at my head. “What, this? Well you see…” Leech held her hand up. She then walked over to me and felt my jacket. As she did she found the secret pocket containing my real blasting rod. She held it up to her nose and sniffed. “It’s been used.” She said I stood there saying nothing. There wasn’t much I could say. I was in deep trouble. “Chaos, you know how I feel about you having this thing. Every time you use it someone other than the target gets hurt. That person is mainly you!” “Leech we’ve been here for a few months so I thought I take some time to touch up on my spell slinging.” Leech looked at me angrily. “Chaos, I swear. If Officer Kat wasn’t about to put a bullet in me, I would suck you dry of all magic to where you can barely levitate a pebble. You don’t use the blasting rod unless it’s a dire emergency. Unless there is a demon smashing through the ceiling, you don’t touch this thing.” All of a sudden the room shook again. Both Kat and Leech glared at me. I shook my head. “This time it isn’t me.” Then a giant hand the size of a pick- up truck smashed through the ceiling. It scooped up Leech and started to pull out of the hole. I tried to blast it with a fire spell, but before I could utter a single word, the hand swiped at me sending me flying into the wall. I was unconscious before I hit the ground. ..... When I came to, Kat was standing over me with worry in her face. I began to stir. Kat saw this and helped me to my feet. “Where’s Leech?” I asked Kat wouldn’t look at me. She hung her head in shame. “That thing made off with her. I have officers scouring the area, but…” I looked up at Kat. “But what Kat?” I asked “But… the chances of finding her alive are slim to none at all.” “I don’t care. I have to find my girlfriend.” Kat sighed and helped me to my feet. “I’m here if you need me Chaos.” She said as I left the station. Chapter 3 When I got home, I was greeted by my tom cat Tabby. He gently rubbed my leg and purred. Cats. What can I say? They just seem to be able to tell when you're upset. I gave him an affectionate scratch behind the ear, then sank down onto my couch. It was there that Shift found me. Shift is a spirit that inhabits my home. He's lived here all his mortal life and for as long as the house has stood. I never knew his real name, so I just call him shift because he can do just that. At the moment, he looked like a butler. "Good God! What happened to you?" I tried to smirk, but my heart just wasn't into it. I just sighed and told him what happened. Once I finished explaining, he was paler than, pardon the pun, a ghost. "A demon kidnapped Leech? How?" "I-i'm not sure, it just burst through the ceiling of the station and took her." Shift took this relatively calm. Then he looked down at the ground. "Well..... If you're going to go find her, then you'll need a healing potion and a pick-me-up potion. Stay on the couch while I go whip those up." Shift, while also being a good source of information on the magical world, can also make pretty powerful potions. After he went into my wizard lab to whip them up, I laid on the couch waiting for him to come back with the potions. Eventually he did come back and I was half asleep. "Chaos..... potions are ready." I awoke, falling off the couch into a heap on the floor. As I slowly picked myself off the ground, I slowly mumble, "Awesome....." Shift handed me the healing potion first. I chugged it down and waited. Then I felt the broken pieces of my skull slowly mold back into place. When that was done, I chugged the other one down. Soon, I felt like my magical self again, and I was ready to kick some demon ass. I walked over to my rug and threw it back, uncovering the trapdoor leading to my lab. Even though it takes up the entirety of my basement, the lab is quite small thanks to all of my junk. I have piles of papers, potion ingredients, and a bunch of tiny talismens just in case. "I really need to clean this place out every now and then." I thought to myself. I cleared the area around a metal circle set into the ground. I set down the ragged remains of leech's glove in the center, then I stepped in, preparing my tracking spell. I mumbled the usual quasi-latin phrase I use for my tracking spells. The strange thing was, the spell wasn't working. I couldn't get a connection. It was as if someone was blocking her. I pressed my will harder and harder into the spell until I felt drained of my magic again. I sighed and released the spell. "What the hell... Why isn't this working?" I asked myself. Category:Fantasy Category:By Roronoa Senshi Category:Chaos Files Category:Stories